World Domination Starts Here

Putting up your own brick and mortar shop is so 1967. Not only will the rent, equipment and staff needed to run your own store be costly, but potential customers now scour the world wide web before heading out of the comforts of their own home to the mall. The online marketplace has been growing and is still in the midst of its rising stage. Websites like Amazon and Ebay are teeming with netizens in search of the newest products. For those who want to start their own business empire, setting up online is the route to take.

There are dozens of sites your business can call home. A popular online destination for starting companies is Facebook. Facebook has an application that allows users to easily put up a page for their online store for free, pay for advertisements and pinpoint specific types of customers to market to. For a more hands-on approach, Shopify is a great service that provides tools for aspiring business to create their own website, which includes built-in shopping carts, their choice of payment and delivery method. Similar sites to Shopify include Magento, Bigcommerce, which simplifies the beginning an online business.

I’m sure all aspiring online moguls want to be like Amazon. Amazon began primarily selling textbooks for school. Due to its simple-to-use online platform and great customer service, Amazon started selling everything from make-up to electronics. What you can learn from Amazon is to start with your most viable product to be sold online, then pivot the business once you receive customer feedback and understand your target market.

It’s no surprise that tons of established businesses still look online. Businesses like Starbucks set up a websites sharing stories not just of their product, but of things they believe their market is interested in. These days, an online home, Twitter and Instagram are even more important that a storefront as these connect with potential customers and start a conversation with them.

Aside from a great product or service to anchor your online business empire, amazing customer service is just as important. Amazon was able to expand into selling all sorts of things because of their dedication to put their customers’ needs above all else.

It’s immensely important to note that even if your business is online, it can be easy to add a human touch to the business to allow it to grow into the online business most can only dream of.